Lance discovered his inner surfer-dude on the boogie board:
Eva looooved the sand:
Alan enjoyed biking the boardwalk. Especially when the bike ride ends at Dairy Queen! (I know, all of our bike rides seem to end up there:)
Alan enjoyed biking the boardwalk. Especially when the bike ride ends at Dairy Queen! (I know, all of our bike rides seem to end up there:)
After breakfast, the kids proceeded down the stairs to find new fishing vests for each of them, complete with the pockets stuffed with Swedish Fish. They gathered their fishing poles and off we went for a day of fun. Sadie did not have her own fishing pole yet so we presented her with her very own Strawberry Shortcake pole. Her face was priceless! And it happened to be a full-size pole, much bigger than her brother's or sister's pole. That did not go unnoticed by ANY child and it only further added to her delight.
We took the kids to a fabulous farm that we love for its pick-your-own orchards galore, stocked fishing ponds, hayrides. . . too many activities to list or even get to in a day!
They panned for gemstones. . .
Rode the Cow Train. . .
Drove the pedal cars. . .
Ate some of Sadie's hair. . .
Played in the huge sandbox filled with dried corn instead of sand. . .
Zipped down giant tunnel slides. . .
Conquered Mt. Tractor Tire. . .
And completed the day with a hayride to the blueberry field. The icing on the cake for Lance was getting to ride on the tractor with the farmer.
Phewee, I think I need another Mother's Day to recover from Kid's Day:)
Let me begin by saying that I do not like squash, zucchini, turnips or beans - and probably some others veggies that seem to be produced by the bushels full in a garden. But what I do like are entertained, curious, busy, wondering, productive and intrigued children (and maybe a little healthy). For this purpose, I have a garden. My garden is not infested with zucchinis, but with the plants that little hands love. The things that children's fingers cannot resist plucking and popping into their mouth, plants that produce dozens of small things that will take many days to pick.
I have one rule, however. You pick it - you eat it. That is where my garden becomes one of miracles. The kids have never cared for peas. I shall leave it sounding as mild as that and not go into the frustrating dinner time moments. But, you pick it - you eat it and . . . miracle of miracles, I have 3 pea eating children! Their little fingers just can't resist plucking off the mystery pods and prying them open to discover the three green pearls inside. And, following the rule, the proceed to eat it and pick another. Peas are the perfect plant because they produce by the oodles. Near the end of the plant's life, I sent the kids out to pick every pod off, and needing some extra time to get things done, I then gave them the task of shelling all of them. They were happily entertained by this task for quite some time. Every time they go out back to play, they wander through the garden to examine the status of every growing thing out there. Eva's latest garden discovery was three ginormous, disgusting, multi-colored freaky bugs she called "cute little caterpillars". She brought them in the house in the palm of her hand to show me. I'm not one to be afraid of bugs but those looked like something out of the 'potentially poisonous' chapter of the entomology field guide. She put them in a plastic cup, "their new home" she called it, and placed the cup in the corner of the garden. I hope that they fry in the hot sun and die a horrible death in their new happy plastic home. She loves to find the worms and cares for all the creatures inhabiting the space.
Today, Sadie was walking around with her own baggie of beans. She was so proud of herself today that she found the longest beans and wanted to keep them in her possession until she was ready to eat them. A few have a couple nibbles off of the end already. I think that she is sleeping with her baggie right now. We are growing peas, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, beans, blueberries, blackberries, watermelons, pumpkins and peaches. The peaches, however, are testing their patience right now.
Grow, peaches . . . GROW!!!
Next to a Flintstones vitamin, it truly has been the easiest B6 to ever get down their throats.
Thanks, girls, for a carefree weekend -
And thank you, dear hubs, for holding down the fort:)